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Jim Cornette recently showered praise on the match between CM Punk and Dustin Rhodes, which went down on AEW Dynamite last week.
Hot on the heels of his victory over MJF at Revolution 2022, The Second City Saint continued his winning ways when he defeated The Natural in a first-time-ever match. The two veterans, who are best known for their in-ring technicality, pushed each other to the limit throughout an exceptionally well-produced matchup.
On a recent episode of the Drive-Thru podcast, Jim Cornette lauded the two men's performances that night, calling their clash the very definition of a wrestling match:
"They're two of the best workers on the roster. And it's a babyface match. There's two clear babyfaces, so the handshake at start works there. And there's no blood feud. There's no reason to start trying to break the guy's bones or throw him through tables within two or three minutes to this. They did some nice running spots, as the boys used to say, some tick tackles and flip flops, worked the head scissors. Punk couldn't get the bow and arrow on Dustin because he's too tall. He couldn't get around both the ankles and the chin and get him up in the leverage. But they had a wrestling match. (02:00)
The wrestling manager further lavished praise on the entire post-match playout, which saw Hangman Page coming out to confront a worn-out CM Punk:
"Clean finish, nice match. The first 20 minutes of the show looks big time. And they can do hugs and shows of respect now because nothing they did in the match would preclude them from wanting to do that if it was real. It was a contest, but nobody hated the other guy and then, you know, Punk's leaving and Adam Page's music plays. They come out and have a face-to-face stare down (...) But again, for the first 20 minutes, recognizable names, experienced professionals, a big crowd, names on the announce team, music, reaction. They look like a big time deal." (05:27)
You can check out the entire podcast below:
Kenta wants to face CM Punk at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door
While CM Punk challenging Hangman Page seems all but confirmed based on their face-off last week, NJPW star Kenta is also eyeing a match against The Second City Saint.
Kenta (f.k.a Hideo Itami) recently took to Twitter to tease a match between himself and Punk for the upcoming AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door on June 26th.
The Bullet Club member has often called out the AEW star for stealing his "Go To Sleep" finishing maneuver. A bout between the two has long been considered a dream match by wrestling fans, and with the Forbidden Door supershow set to pit several AEW and NJPW stars against each other, it could finally be happening.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and credit the Drive-Thru podcast.
